Gone Fishin'

One of the best parts of my job are the occasional house calls to check out books. Today I'm off to Gilbertsville, NY to go through 20-30,000 books that belonged to a former schoolteacher. It's one of my favorite local villages, and the sun is out (for now) so it should be a good day.

Sadly, that means I won't be in the shop to post a new bookmark for you. Instead, I'll repost one of my favorites:

Letter on thick-stock personalized card:

Julia *****

Dearest David,
I am returning the beautiful necklace you gave me - not as a gesture if finality of our friendship, but because it is a special token in your family and I could not in good conscience keep it. I hope you understand that I do and will care deeply for you and that I have every bit of confidence in the beauty of your unique David-ness. I am just selfishly at a point in my life at which I can not make the sacrifices and take the risks that are necessary to make any relationship that we would have work. We are both at such profound transition points in our lives, and our situations are too unstable to offer the foundation necessary upon which to build the tremendous life changes that we idealistically believed possible. I want to know and believe, as I think you do, that I will always be a loving and caring friend & confidante to you - I know you would reciprocate that. Thank you for remaining the David I will always adore! Your strength and beauty will perpetually preserve that.

Much love
Julia
4/5/00

Found in "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro. Published by Vintage, 1990.